Cataclysm
by superhackaninja5
Summary: They were fighting since the beginning of time and now they have to work together under the scrutiny of a leader who they've never met before. Includes some characters from YGO and GX 2 ON HIATUS.
1. Chapter 1:The Note

Chapter 1:The Note

Summary:Two souls. One world and one chance to stop a crazed outcast from destroying everything they know. Under the scrutiny of one Seto Kaiba, Itachi Uchiha and Kai Hiwatari will have to overcome their differences in order to save their world and themselves from the ultimate adversary:Carvarrin Jaleks from Sentrail.

Disclaimer:Don't own Naruto and don't own Beyblade, either. Wish I did own Naruto,though. Itachi is damn smexy. I do own the idea of Carvarrin Jaleks and Dark Sentrail. Oh, and on one note, the first "r" in Carvarrin is silent!

This story is also a profit of way too much anime watching and my disappointment that Itachi died. So to make up for him being dead, I intend to write as many stories about him as possible.

* * *

Chapter 1:The Note

Darkness was calling my name. I just couldn't shut it out anymore. The world had denied me entrance in to their perfect little bubble, but now I would burst it.

Permanently.

* * *

"You have no chance against me, Hiwatari,"

The blood-red irises of my worst enemy mocked me as he repeatedly inflicted the torture of the Tsukuyomi on me. However, it had no effect.

I have no nightmares. I'm too strong to be captured by something as trivial as "jutsu" nonsense, but I let him think he's defeated me.

I've done this every time we've fought.

So I can build him up..and then _.down_.

But more about that later. Right now we're focusing on what he's doing to me at the moment. Our battle.

"If that's true, then why am I still standing?"I spat out through gritted teeth, fighting back a smug smile from crossing my pale, bloodless lips.

Itachi's face remained unperturbed.

"Stubbornness wins nothing for you,"he said by way of an answer, his tone cold and colourless.

I chuckled with a weird gurgling noise, forcing up some blood in the process to make it look like I was really suffering from his attack.

"Who says this is stubbornness?Maybe I'm just strong enough not to give in to you,"I retorted, putting on a great show of sounding weak and desperate.

He laughed without humor into my face.

No expression crossed his face the entire time.

"Strong you may be, but even the strongest fall in time,"he commented and with that elegant parting sentence, he was gone with a whirl of his cloak and doused in smoke. I wiped the blood off of my mouth and got to my feet.

It was getting rather tiresome, listening to that ignorant little bastard, but I would only have to deal with it for a little while longer.

The full star was coming and that was when my initial plan would come full circle.

Uchiha would fall.

I allowed a smirk to cross onto my pale features as I pulled my own cloak tighter over my shoulders and turned to leave the sight of my latest play.

The sight disappeared behind me and transformed into the abandoned hut where I had taken my latest refuge.

I sighed with obvious relief.

There was no need for my facade within those walls and re-entering them would be the best thing that had happened to me all night.

The door swung open at my touch and I dropped my cloak beside the door on the way in.

"Kai,"Ray's calm, collected voice called as I made my way through the threshold with my eyes closed and arms folded.

I slowly lifted my pale eyelids to reveal my insipid amethyst eyes staring at Ray with mild interest.

"What is it, Ray?"I questioned, the smirk leaving my lips as quickly as it had come and it was replaced with a thin line.

My interest would waver incredibly quickly if Ray didn't bring anything of importance up.

Ray shifted uncomfortably. "There's a message for you inside,"he gestured to the direction where the message was left.

I walked past him in the direction he indicated and found the message he was talking about.

It looked formal and important, considering the laminate(sp?) paper and script writing. It looked official.

I leaned against the wall to read it.

_Dear Mr. Hiwatari ,_

_I assure you I wouldn't be calling on you unless it was of the utmost importance, but there is a threat coming to your home._  
_He is on the move from Sentrail. He knows who you are and he knows where to find you. There is no use in running. My advice to you is fight. Fight, or you will forever be branded as a coward. Make your decision._

That was it. There was no signature, only an insignia that was completely unfamiliar to me.

I whirled around to face Ray's anxious features. "Did you read this?"I demanded, trying to keep the suspicion out of my voice.

Ray shook his head furiously. "Absolutely not,"he insisted, holding up his hands in a gesture of innocence.

I laid a comforting hand on his shoulder to calm him down."Relax, Ray, I'm only asking,"I told him quietly, turning away from him and tucking the letter into my coat pocket. "Kai,"Ray called again.

I stopped in my tracks.

"What?"I replied in a barely perceptible tone with my back still to Ray.

I heard him shift again, as if he was struggling with what exactly to say.

"I didn't think you knew the person who delivered the message, so I asked them who they were and,"Ray swallowed, "they said they were coming for you and another."

This grabbed my attention instantly and I opened my eyes, but deliberately kept my back to Ray. "Who?"I questioned seriously, plunging my shaking hand into my pocket so Ray wouldn't see it shaking.

That was when Ray said the one name I knew I didn't want to hear.

"Uchiha."

* * *

Well there's Chapter 1. Hoped you liked it and also, I realize it was a little short, but the next one will be longer, I promise. And just in case my friend, Shannara ever reads this, I'm gonna post a note now that says I'll be modeling a character after you, Nara, so be ready for that. Laterz!^^


	2. Chapter 2:The Gifted Ones

Time for Chapter 2. I was very mean to leave whoever reads this with a cliffhanger like that, but I'm just that mean! So when we last left our characters, Kai and Ray were having a nice little conversation about the letter that Kai got. Now most of you will be wondering who sent it, I presume. Well guess what?YOU'RE NOT GONNA FIND OUT UNTIL THE NEXT CHAPTER AND I DON'T MEAN THIS ONE!So deal with it.

Disclaimer:Don't own Beyblade, don't own Naruto, don't own Seto Kaiba. Own the plotline. Own Carvarrin and Sentrail. 'S'about it.

Movin on.

Chapter 2:The Gifted Ones

I spun on my heel to look at Ray.

~No. No. No!~My mind screamed at this new piece of ?Why did whoever was after me have to be after Uchiha, too?That meant we would have to work together!

NO!NO!NO!

I was on the verge of yelling in frustration when I managed to re-compose myself in order to calm down.

"Really?"I asked Ray coolly, putting my other hand in my pocket, so it wouldn't look suspicious that I had one hand in my pocket and one nodded slowly. "I'm sure of it,"he answered confidently, putting his own hands in his pockets.

I had to stop myself from groaning before nodding in what I hoped looked like grudging acceptance.

"Fine,"I sighed,"so be it. Uchiha will have to be warned, of course and there's no way in hell I'm warning him." Ray rolled his eyes."Then we know it's gonna be me,"he sighed.

* * *

My red-on-black cloak billowed behind me as I walked away from the scene of my latest confrontation with Hiwatari. That boy needs to be taught a lesson.

I should probably introduce myself, shouldn't I?

My name is Itachi Uchiha.

I am an elder brother, an elite ninja and above all, a killer.

Maybe that's why Hiwatari and I have been arch-enemies since the first day we met each other.

See, he doesn't approve of killing people purely for money or because someone tells you to.

He will kill if he has to, or at least that's what he told me, but I don't set much store by what he says,considering just about every time we fight, he pretends to be weak and defenseless, but I know he isn't.

I've seen him in a fight and he's about as weak and defenseless as a muscle-man with a 10-pound machine gun.(Like that comparison?^^)

So, what is he planning?

What can he possibly gain by pretending to lose to me?

Nothing. That's the only answer I've ever come up with. And that's not an answer. I refuse to believe Hiwatari would be doing that for no apparent reason.

Oh, by the way, Hiwatari is all-around spoiled brat Kai Hiwatari of the famous Hiwatari heroes.

We don't like each other. Never have. Never will, as far as I'm concerned, but more about that later. Right now, I need to focus on finding the hideout me and my brother have set up here before it gets too late to grab a couple minutes of sleep.

Oh, wait, I think that's it right there!

I walked through the door without looking to see if Sasuke was there, because let's admit it, he was.

"Itachi,"he greeted me quietly without looking up from whatever it was he was doing in the corner of the sitting room.

I nodded mutely to him in response, my eyes focused on the stone floor while I made a beeline straight for my room, at the other end of the house,conveniently behind the iron-plated door, I angled my legs across the wall and folded my arms, proceeding to stare at the wall while my brain worked overtime in producing the sort of ideas that I have no use for, since all of them include wringing someone by the neck and that's just not the way I prefer to commit my assassinations.

It's just too simple that way and things that are simple aren't worth doing in the first place.

My eyes fell shut as I decided what to do about my present situation.

I knew something was going on lately because that was just one of my many talents.

Along with being able to use jutsus that only ninjas who have gone beyond the elite are able to master and being able to call upon the Mangekyo Sharingan at will, I have one other notable talent.

I can see the future.

Well, see is a matter of perspective, actually. I know when things are going to happen, but I can't tell who they're going to happen to or where they're going to happen.

It's things like that that really bother me about my so-called "talent". People call it a talent.

I call it a curse.

I don't want to be able to see things before they happen, especially when it's something bad happening to someone I actually care about.

My brother, Sasuke, says I shouldn't look at it so negatively, but I can't help it.

Who wants to see disasters before they hit, who wants to know when something bad's going to happen?You'd be forever looking over your shoulder, wanting to know if you can change the future or if it's just your fate.

Who wants to have a life like that?

I know I don't, but I'll just have to live with it because it's something I can't get rid of, and I'm not even sure that, given the chance, I would get rid of it because it has come in handy quite a few times.

Of course, that's hardly enough to absolve it of its downsides, but it's a pretty big upside.

And now it happens again.

* * *

The insignia. If nothing else, that would tip Hiwatari off as to my identity.

Carvarrin Jaleks of Sentrail is coming for you, Hiwatari. And you, Uchiha.

Both of you will fall victim to my ultimate ploy to get revenge on the world that betrayed me oh so long they thought they were rid of me, they were more wrong than they had been about anything else in the history of their time, and that was definitely saying something.

It's my turn now.

My turn to have a chance at greatness and they won't hold me back this time.

With one looking into the future, one looking into the past and one looking at the present, I can take the world who rejected me by storm and force them to bow at my feet and marvel at my power, the power they wouldn't let me have in the first place.

Kaiba, Uchiha and Hiwatari;the three who will forever be under my rule because of the powers they possess, the powers I gave them at their creation.

* * *

The usual flash of blinding silver obscured my vision right before I got the sign, the sign that I was looking into something real and not just my imagination.

In front of me now stood Hiwatari.

There was nothing different about him, except for the fact that he was no longer looking contradictively at anyone. His amethyst eyes stared emotionlessly at whoever was in front of him.

This was new.

I'd never been able to see whose point of view the vision was from before and obviously, it was from Hiwatari's.

"There's nothing left in here, except for the energy you're emitting, Hiwatari,"a completely unfamiliar voice rang out.

The person who had spoken came into view.

It was a male. His dark brown hair fell just slightly into his rocket blue eyes and ran down the sides of his pale face, just brushing the collar of his amber to his waist was a deep gold sheath with a bright handle the same colour as the cloak behind it protruding out of the sheath.

"What energy? Why am I emitting energy?"Kai wondered, clearly puzzled.

The brown-haired man turned, "I'm leaving this explanation to you, Uchiha,"

And then I saw myself.

But I looked like never before.

My black hair was messy and down, but disappeared beneath the collar of my black cloak before I could see if the length was any different. There was no assassin's ring on my finger and my sword was missing as well.

My future self sighed.

"The trails of the past energy and you're emitting it because of your power,"he said.

Kai looked even more bewildered than before,"What power?"

My future self looked at the brown-haired man with muted ferocity, but the man ignored his look and just nodded.

Again, he sighed.

"You have the power to look into the past,"

Kai gasped and I could tell he was close to falling down from shock."Wh-what?"he stammered, looking as confused as I felt.

My mind was in absolute lockdown.

Hiwatari could look into the past?

He was the other creation that was given a gift?

That just couldn't be possible.

If he was the other, then why were we enemies?The gifted ones were supposed to come together against all odds and take down any threat.

But this wasn't right.

The brown-haired man stood directly in front of Hiwatari and looked him straight in the eyes.

"You and Uchiha have been enemies for quite some time now, haven't you?"Kai stared at him before answering, "Y-yes."He nodded,"There's your answer. Against all odds of their conciousnesses, they will come together and defeat the threat,"

"Threat?"my future-self repeated with an arched eyebrow.

A dull thump came from Hiwatari slumping against the wall.

"It's him, the one who's insignia was on the note,"he declared shakily as he attempted to straighten himself up.

I could feel my heart pounding in my ears, waiting in anxiety to hear the identity of this "threat" that had the great Kai Hiwatari so scared.

To my dismay, it was the brown-haired man who uttered the name,"Jaleks."

And then I was brutally ripped from the vision and thrown back against the wall, gasping for air.

* * *

And there's Chapter 2. Now the description of "the brown-haired man" was almost impossibly hard to write, considering I wasn't using his actual appearance, but rather inventing my own version for this story because to all intents and purposes, everything that happened with my main characters in their shows never happened.  
That's the beauty of inventing your own stories. Kai's not a Beyblader. He's part of a long line of exponential heroes with a history as long as the world itself. Itachi is an assassin, working for the people who killed his parents trying to capture him and Kaiba(the brown-haired man, of course)is a shielder and he protects the Gifted Ones. Oh, and Itachi and Kai were created, not born. Not really, anyways. Now who agrees that Jaleks is a weird name?


	3. Chapter 3:Meeting With Fate

Chapter 3 at last and the end of Chapter 2 was pretty cool, I thought. We discovered who could see the past and that Itachi could see the future. That's pretty damn awesome, if you ask me. Now in here, we finally find out who sent that note Kai got in the first chapter, although I'm pretty sure I already said it in the last chapter. Oh well, you get to hear it again. As for what I said underneath the end of the chapter, I am completely erasing the stories that all our characters had in their shows and giving them my own version, in other words, completely new ones.

Note:To all intents and purposes, for this story, Zane's eyes are blue, not green and he is a vampire. Lol. A vampire who kills his victims.

Disclaimer:I don't own Beyblade. I don't own Seto Kaiba or Zane. I don't own Naruto. I own the plotline and Sentrail and Jaleks person. Yeah, that's about it.

On with the chapter.

* * *

Chapter 3:Meeting With Fate

I slumped against the concrete wall, winded from my vision.

What the hell was that?

My visions never did that before and I certainly wasn't prepared for it. So Hiwatari was the past see-er and something was definitely not right about this. The insignia, Hiwatari had said that that was the threat, the person who owned the insignia. But that couldn't be true, because the only person who had an insignia to speak of was outlawed from the world ages ago.

Unless he found a way around that, and if he has, then we're all in trouble.

Who was the brown-haired man and why was Hiwatari the past see-er?

When I found those answers, I'd unravel this entire mystery.

For now, though, I had to work on how to find out if the threat really was who everything pointed to it being.

There was a knock on my door."Itachi?"Sasuke's voice called out tentatively.I turned around and opened the door to his pale, slack face."What is it, Sasuke?"I asked exhaustedly, not bothering to keep the exasperation out of my voice. My younger brother shifted uncomfortably, or as uncomfortably as his emotionless exterior allowed him to. "This came for you,"He handed me a note and I had to stop myself from dropping it in shock.

Burned into the parchment(paper*haven't decided which one sounds more appropriate) was the insignia I had come to recognize from my assassinations.

So it was him, then.

Jaleks was the threat and Hiwatari and I had to defeat him.

* * *

His dark amber cloak flew behind him as he exited the dark building and slammed the door shut behind his hood up over his dark brown hair, he walked until he was a safe distance away from that building, which he was so dreading being near at the present.

Hiwatari and Uchiha were not who he was hoping would be his candidates for saving the world from Jaleks. He, Seto Kaiba, had fought Jaleks before and he had just barely escaped with his life and that was when it was only him. How much more with two people who couldn't even look at each other without getting into a fight?

Things were starting to seem pretty hopeless for the world from where he was standing. But he would have to try to tame the two creations' anger, for the sake of himself and for the rest of the world.

An exasperated sigh escaped his bloodless lips involuntarily as he entered the house where he was currently taking refuge.

It was an abandoned, old-fashioned, two-story mansion with many vacant rooms and lit solely by candlelight. Most would think it was a big place to be living alone, but that was the way he liked it after everything he'd gone through. People would just get in his way if they lived here with him. So he kept himself away from everyone. He was another one of those people who liked their privacy. Too much of it, actually.

The two creations were going to have to learn to deal with each other. He would force them, if he had to. That was the decision he made right then and there. No more avoiding it from this point on.

Once that decision was made, Seto sighed. That was really starting to look impossible."It's not impossible, Kaiba,"a mysterious voice with a slight British accent contradicted him, forcing Seto's rocket blue eyes to fly open.

The speaker had entered the house without a single sound and was now standing in the doorway, directly facing the exhausted Seto. It was a male, nearly as tall as he was and donning a deep midnight-blue cloak with the hood drawn up. Seto stared at the figure through half-open eyelids. "Who the hell are you?"he wondered quietly, barely moving his lips and moving his gaze to the marble floor.

A humourless chuckle slipped out from under the enigmatic man's deep blue hood, which was pulled low over his eyes."That is unimportant at the present,"he commented in a low voice. "Then what is important right now?Forgive me if I don't see the reason why you're here when I don't even know you,"Seto drawled without emotion, looking up in a glare. The man not only bore Seto's glare, but he seemed to match it without even looking at Seto,"What is important is that you see how foolish your doubts are from this point,"

Seto raised a dark brown eyebrow. "Foolish, are they?"he quipped in a bored voice,"I doubt you would be saying that if you'd actually seen Uchiha and Hiwatari," "I don't need to see the two creations in order to know that their enmity is just another part of fate,"his company said coolly,"You have more than enough power to tame their rivalry. And you'd better figure out a way to do that quick,"

With those final words of wisdom, the man was gone.

And Seto was left staring at the vacated spot with absolutely no clue how to do what the man had just said.

"So he's returned,"another, familiar this time, male voice commented cynically.

Seto turned around and came face-to-face with his occasional roommate, the legendary vampire, Zane Truesdale. Thankfully, though, Fate had granted him at least a tiny break because Zane was in his human form. Still, even without looking like a vampire, he still posed a pretty threatening image. With eyes like ice beneath midnight-blue bangs and a black hood, it was hard to believe this was only his human state.

"What do you want, Truesdale?"he asked, folding his arms across his chest and not bothering to hide his annoyance. Zane turned his razor-sharp gaze on Seto. "I thought you might want to know who it was that just confronted you,"he replied in a tone as cold as his stare. Seto's eyes narrowed. "So come on, let's have it, then, who was it that just confronted me?"he prompted, not having the energy to do this dance today. Zane's eyes turned away.

"His name is Bakura,"he began in a colourless voice, barely above a whisper. Seto decided this was probably going to be a long story and leaned against the wall before sliding his back down it and dropping into a sitting position. Zane copied his first move and leaned against the wall opposite Seto before speaking again."We met nearly 10 years ago, when the war of the vampires was still going on. He was another pureblood vampire, but not one like me. While he is definitely much more savage, he doesn't kill his victims,"he continued without emotion,"He was neutral in the war, but he deserted his comrades at the most critical point of the war. So I've forever looked down on him for it and never thought he'd dare to return. But maybe he's finally seen the error of his deed,"

Seto looked up at Zane's pale, deadpan stare and had to keep from smirking. Maybe there really was a heart under all that coldness. He forced himself to keep a straight face and said,"And why would you care if he deserted his comrades?"

Zane deigned not to answer and instead, mused,"I wonder why he came to you, though."Seto shrugged."I have no idea,"he admitted tonelessly, folding one of his legs over the other.

* * *

_A dark hallway._

_Absolutely no light._

_Echoing, and almost unearthly, screams._

_And the sickly sweet smell of death wafting through the tainted air like some heavy perfume._

What is going on?_~I wondered, unsure if this was real or just a dream.I didn't remember falling asleep, so how could it be a dream?And then a familiar voice, the voice of the one man I never thought I'd hear inside my hideout(even though, this isn't his hideout), spoke."They're coming."_

_There was a startling flash of red and black and there stood Uchiha._

_But he was different. His pale face was alive with fear, his obsidian eyes alight with an almost inhuman glow and his black hair was loose._

_The hallway was suddenly rocked with an explosive crash. "Oh, shit,"Uchiha muttered, drawing the sword from his belt."Sasuke!"he called, sprinting forward frantically._

_I couldn't understand what was going on._

_What did that explosion mean?_

_There was no time to think about it, though. The grey walls seemed to move with Uchiha and led me to where his younger brother was locked in a vicious battle with a completely unfamiliar woman. Unfamiliar to me, at any rate. Swords flashed in a deadly dance that dragged on seemingly endlessly as Uchiha tried to look for an opening to help his brother. Sasuke, I think his name was. Blue-ebony hair spiked out of the shorter Uchiha's head while he valiantly fended off his female opponent with his katana blade._

_"Care to help me, Itachi?'he asked vigorously, sparks ricocheting off his silver sword as it clashed with his opponent's fiercely between them. Black eyes rolled as Uchiha drew a kunai and flung it in the direction of the woman's sternum, nailing her directly in the chest. She fell to the floor, dropping her sword in the process and Uchiha loomed over her."Now you stay away from my brother,"he intoned in a low, dangerous voice._

_Turning away from the fallen woman, he faced Sasuke. "I told you not to come with me,"he reprimanded, his previous fear gone and replaced with the dull, deadpan expression I was used to. Sasuke cracked his neck and stowed his katana back in its sheath,"Yeah, well, when was the last time I listened to you?"_

_Uchiha rolled his eyes a second time and plucked his kunai deftly out of the prostrate body lying across the floor, swiftly replacing it in the pouch beneath his red and black cloak. "Come on,"he spoke up again abruptly, grabbing his brother's white-clad arm,"We have to report back to Jaleks on this assassination's success,"_

_When he turned around before disappearing, I saw something on the back of his cloak that made my world spin on its axis:the insignia from that note I had received._

And the two Uchihas were gone, then and I was once again looking at the wall of my room.

I collapsed on the stone cold floor, my ivory eyelids snapping open. I couldn't move or make a sound;I was too confused. What was that?I knew it wasn't a dream because having a dream required falling asleep first and I obviously hadn't been asleep. So what had that been? Some sort of vision?One thing I was sure about:it was definitely something from the past because currently, Uchiha never openly displayed any emotion as human as fear. At least, not in my presence.

A vision of the past, that's what it must've been. But why was I seeing it?And how come that insignia was sewn into Uchiha's cloak?I had never seen it there before,so why had it been there before?

I sighed. So many questions and no answers.

"Some questions are better left without answers, Hiwatari,"a deep, almost velvet-like voice intoned from behind me and I spun around.

The man who had spoken was nearly an entire foot taller than me, with dark brown hair that was closely cropped to his head and came down to his amber-clad shoulders;a sharp contrast to his black leather gloves and combat boots. The eyes beneath his dark bangs were a blinding blue, glowing exponentially on a mocha-skinned visage. He was elongated across the wall, surveying me critically over crossed arms, folded across his chest.

"What does that mean?"I asked him, cocking a slate eyebrow curiously.

The dark-haired man pushed himself off of the wall and turned to face me fully before answering in that same deep, smooth baritone,"It means you can't know everything about a situation until it's the right time," "And when is the right time for me to know everything about my current situation, of which I know nothing except that someone is after the world and I'm going to have to work with my worst enemy in order to stop him?"I challenged, my second eyebrow rising to join the first. "I can't tell you that,"he mock chided,"but what I can tell you is that you can expect a lot more surprises from this point on. Now if you'll excuse me, there is another matter I need to attend to," "Before you go, at least tell me your name and what you have to do with all this,"I pleaded as the dark-haired man turned on his heel and began to walk away.

He stopped in his tracks and replied without turning around, "My name is Seto Kaiba. And I am the third gifted one, the one who can look into the present and the worst nemesis of the man who is after you and Uchiha."And he was gone, leaving me with more questions than I'd had before.

* * *

Absolute silence.

That was what I had been accustomed to in the hideout I shared with Sasuke ever since learning the identity of the threat Hiwatari and I were prophesied to defeat together, as unlikely as that seemed.

Sasuke was absent at the moment and I, I was passing the time with one of my most frequent hobbies:sitting in the corner of my room and blocking out everything except for my own thoughts. It's a rather useful hobby, if I do say so myself, or at least, it would be if my thoughts weren't so damned confusing at the moment. After everything that I had been finding out in these last few days, my mind was becoming far too cluttered with secrets being revealed.

As if in answer to my moody contemplation, a voice, smooth enough to overshadow mine, spoke out, echoing in the empty room.

"You need to vent out some of that pent-up emotion, Uchiha,"

I froze in my position. I knew that voice. My bloodless eyelids shot open and I found myself face-to-face with a familiar tall, brown-haired profile. Not one I knew by name, but one I knew by appearance.

It was the brown-haired man from my vision. He was even more formidable-looking in person, several inches taller than me and harshly emphasized by a smooth, angular, mocha-skinned face and body. I swept a hand through my ebony bangs before addressing him without emotion, ignoring his words,"Who are you?" He smiled humorlessly at my question and answered in an equally metronomic tone ,"Your better and shielder, Uchiha;call me Kaiba."

I looked him over scrutinizingly and decided he wasn't a threat. "So, Kaiba, exactly what do you want with me?"I said tonelessly, folding my black-clad arms fluidly across my chest and facing him impassively. "To gauge exactly how much you know about your current situation,"he effectively declared,"Because you can't know too much more than Hiwatari does," I raised a black eyebrow. "You've spoken to Hiwatari?"I quipped offhandedly, acting as if it didn't matter to me one way or the other.

"Just the other day,"Kaiba responded, waving away the question,"But that's beside the point at the present. Hiwatari is only aware of the fact that Jaleks is plotting to destroy the world and thinks you and him are also targets and because of that, you have to work together. He has no idea of the identity of the threat, though, nor the gifts you and he share,"

I grudgingly deemed this a time to be honest. "I'm not much further,"I confessed," I know Jaleks is the threat and that I can see the future and Hiwatari can see the past and that's about all,"

Kaiba nodded, as if I was confirming what he'd thought all along, "Like I said, you can't know too much more than Hiwatari does,"Then the corners of his mouth twitched and he added enigmatically,"Yet." "And what is that supposed to mean?"I countered coldly, allowing a frown to slightly crease my pale forehead. "I'll give you one more piece of the puzzle, shall I?"Kaiba said, and without waiting for my answer, he told me,"I can see the present."

Before I could comment, he vanished.

* * *

"You're playing with fire again, Jaleks,"

Said evil tyrant was busily outlining his route to finding his gifted ones and as such, was completely unprepared for the familiar voice's disapproving sentiment. He swiveled his head in the direction of the voice and gritted his teeth at the speaker, whom he recognized all too well.

Seto Kaiba.

This dark-haired, impudent waste of power was the reason why the world had rejected him all those years ago. "And what do you mean by that, Kaiba?"Carvarrin challenged in a growl, clenching his leather-gloved hand hard over the handle of his sword. Seto leaned against the wall behind him and surmised smoothly,"You're messing with forces beyond your control and it's going to backfire on you. I would think you'd have learned that after I defeated you the first time."

Carvarrin suppressed a snarl with immense difficulty. What really rubbed him the wrong away about this man was how easily he was able to come up with something to say that would effortlessly slice through anything and everything he himself said. "You treacherous cretin;I created you and your brethren and the three of you were meant to serve me, not fight me,"he rebuked in a low, dangerous tone.

Seto just shook his head. "Haven't you ever heard of Frankenstein?"he chastised,"Mary Shelley created him to serve her, but he turned against her. This is a classic Frankenstein case;you may've created us, but eventually, all creations will turn against their creator. That is an inevitabily,"

"So is the eventuality of the creator willing to go to great lengths to re-marshal his creations back under his control,"Carvarrin added matter-of-factly. "That's just your special case, and whatever 'great lengths' you're willing to go to will fail in the end,"Seto argued without emotion, crossing one of his ankles over the other from his position against the far wall. "I thought Uchiha was the one who was able to see the future, not you, Kaiba,"

His answer was an artificial smile. "I'm not predicting the future, I'm merely stating what should be obvious to you, of all people,Jaleks,"the shielder responded,"Especially at this point,"

At this point, Carvarrin's anger was reaching breaking point, and the only reply Seto got was the furious gnashing of teeth.

"I see I've made my point,"Seto observed, "so now you have a choice, don't you? You can do the smart thing and stop this futile crusade before it blows up in your face;or you can continue with your plan and get utterly destroyed, just like the last time. Whatever appeals to you more."

* * *

Well, that took forever. Again. Anyways, so next chapter we have some more Kai/Itachi interaction and Seto and Zane come into the story a lot more. I'm looking forward to this.


	4. Chapter 4:Convergence

**Title**:Cataclysm

**Author**:superhackaninja5

**Rating**:T

**Summary**:Two souls. One world and one chance to stop a crazed outcast from destroying everything they know. Under the scrutiny of one Seto Kaiba, Itachi Uchiha and Kai Hiwatari will have to overcome their differences in order to save their world and themselves from the ultimate adversary:Carvarrin Jaleks from Sentrail.

**Disclaimer:**You all know the drill. Don't own nothing cept the plot, settings and the character backgrounds I made up.

Yes I'm back. Finally. Now that I have a new computer that doesn't suck, I'm going to try and update way more often. In this chapter, we have more plot, more face-offs, and my personal favourite, more Itachi and Seto!^^Thanks to everyone who reviewed and I do believe this story has been added to about four favourites lists, so kudos to those people!I love you! Also a big congratulations to everyone who's still sticking with this story even though i make far less than regular updates.

Oh and about the reformatting, I decided to start doing it like this because it just looks neater and I don't have any of the other chapters on file anymore so this is just going to be the format from now on. Now on with the chapter^.^

("...blah..blah.."denote people speaking

~..._blah..blah~_denotes people thinking

"..._**blah**__..__**blah**__..."_denotes change in language

`..._blah...blah..`_denotes telepathy)

* * *

Chapter 4:Convergence

_Trembling_

_Crawling across my skin_

_Feeling your cold dead eyes_

_Stealing the life of mine_

_- Dance with the Devil,_ Breaking Benjamin

_~Flashback~_

"_Run, Seto!"_

_The dark-haired boy shut his eyes against the screams and barrelled down the dimly lit hallway, clamping his hands down over his ears to block out the noise._

_Blood was running red like a river over the grey drywall and tortured screams rang out through the night, erupting from within the house as if they had lain dormant there for years._

"_Stand aside, you foolish woman,"a deep voice growled silkily, brandishing the red-stained knife like an extension of his fingers._

_The woman shook her head furiously,while futilely trying to staunch the flow of crimson liquid spurting from the open wound in her chest._

"_N-Not him. Not Seto, please,"she sobbed petulantly, sinking down the wall and continuing to shake her brown head._

"_The boy is not your son. He belongs to _me_,"_

"_NO!RUN, SETO!"_

_Seto screamed to blot out the yelling as he tore through the house, desperate to get away from the carnage. _

_The sickeningly sweet stench of death and decay permeated the air around him, choking him and making it near impossible for him to get breath into his lungs._

_He knew that that man, the one who had attacked his parents and killed his father, was after him. What he didn't know was why. He had never seen this man before in his life, after all. And yet he continued to run, simply because he didn't want his father's fate to become his._

_A blinding flash stopped him in his tracks, however, and there was the squelch of a blade piercing flesh and his mother screamed, a horrible strangled sound that reverberated throughout the entire house._

_He knew he should keep running, but something about that sound utterly halted him in his tracks, effectively rooting him to his current spot._

"_Keep running, little boy. You will _**never**_** escape me**..."_

_Seto shivered as that cruel voice crooned those nine words tauntingly into his ear, filling the grooves with sickly gelid breath._

_In a rapid rush of shadows, his parents' killer stood in his path, twirling the chromatic, silver knife between his gloved fingers so that it caught the moonlight bleeding through the cracks in the ceiling in an almost hypnotic manner._

"_**So**..."_

_The man advanced languidly toward his quarry, but Seto's light blue eyes were inescapably drawn to the oscillating knife in his hand, rather than on him._

"_Those humans thought they could hide you from me, did they, my little creation?"he scoffed, "Fools."_

_Seto was too transfixed by the glimmer of the lethal blade in the darkness to speak and so remained silent._

"_You **will **come home to me now,"he continued softly, "Whether by choice. Or by force," _

_He raised the knife._

_And everything turned red._

_~End Flashback~_

The shielder jolted up from his bed rapidly, panting and drenched in a layer of sweat, as if something had shocked him.

"Bad dream, Kaiba?"a cold monotone questioned dully from his left, causing his brown head to whip around rapidly to find the source of that familiar voice.

"Don't you ever get tired of coming here, Truesdale?"he shot back irritably, rolling his eyes.

A slight smirk curved his vampire roommate's pale, bloodless mouth and one of his dark blue eyebrows arched smoothly, but otherwise, he said nothing else.

Seto shook his head.

"In answer to your question, yes, it was a bad dream,"he replied without emotion, swinging his long legs over the side of the bed and hunching his shoulders while trying to get a grip.

The vampire's white fangs poked out of his upper lip as his smirk evaporated into the customary nonchalant line, "Care to tell me what it was about?"

"Do you really care?"Seto retorted softly, keeping his light blue gaze focused on the stone floor beneath his bare feet.

"Hn,"Zane scoffed condescendingly, a strange gleam in his pupil-less emerald pools.

Seto hid a smile, "That's what I thought,"

He got to his feet and withdrew a black turtleneck from his neck, pulling it over his head as he stepped into his boots at the foot of his bed;over his shoulders, he clasped his amber cloak.

"You're welcome to my bed, Truesdale. I'm going for a walk,"he told his companion quietly without looking at him as he made his way out of the room.

* * *

There was a knock at the door the second Kai lay down in his bed for the night.

~_Who the _**hell **_is that?~_he mentally groaned, sitting up again as he heard the tell-tale sounds of Ray answering the door.

"Kai, Tala's here,"the Chinese man's voice called from outside his room.

Kai swung his legs over his bed and exited the room to a relative surprise.

Standing outside the doorway, was a familiar tall, pale-faced profile, his crimson hair arranged in his trademark Devil's horns with the darker twin strands shadowing his shining violet eyes.

The corners of his thin lips turned upward in a slow smile when he caught sight of the bluenette, "Kai,"

Said phoenix stopped midway through the threshold of his room at seeing his friend.

"Been a while, hasn't it, _**brat **_[1]?"the redhead continued smoothly, rolling up the sleeves of his black biker jacket above his elbows, showing muscled white arms, heavily adorned with a grotesque compilation of scars, gouge marks and bruises.

Kai raised a solitary slate eyebrow at him. "What are you doing here, wolf?"he questioned without emotion, ignoring Tala's attempt at a polite pretence.

Ultramarine eyes narrowed imperceptibly beneath a thick row of crimson lashes.

"Ray told me about this, ah, _predicament_ you have involving Uchiha,"he stated flatly, tucking both of his gloved hands into his pockets.

Kai turned to Ray accusingly and the younger man shrugged. "Sorry, he and I were talking and it just slipped out,"he confessed guiltily, shuffling his feet. "Don't blame him, Kai. I made him tell me,"Tala interrupted in a cold monotone. "Now, then, I think I'd like it if _you _told me a bit more,"

"What do you want to know?"Kai quipped lifelessly, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring almost imperceptibly at Tala.

The redhead rolled his eyes.

"Everything, obviously,"he declared irritably as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Then he amended hastily, "Everything you know, that is."

Kai sighed.

"You might want to sit down, then,"he suggested quietly, directing his pale chin toward the leather couch at the side of the sitting room. Tala nodded, heading for the couch with Kai following him.

The bluenette sat down in an armchair across from him and lifted one of his legs over the other, leaning back before speaking in his usual soft, emotionless tone; "I got a note a few days ago saying that someone was coming after me. It turned out they were after Uchiha as well. And it's part of a prophecy that gave me the power to see the past, Uchiha the power to see the future and I think there's a third, but I don't actually know,"

Tala looked bemused and he said as much at that moment, "Huh. Well, that's...interesting,"

Kai snorted silently and without humour. "Trust you to take it so fatalistically," Tala shrugged, "Sorry. I'm not really wired for any extreme emotions." "This I know,"his friend muttered monotonously. Tala chuckled.

"So what are you intending to do about it?"he asked seriously, crossing his legs at the ankles and giving Kai a scrutinizing look-over. Kai shrugged without conviction. "I don't know,"he admitted tonelessly.

Tala considered him for a moment, violet eyes hardening so slightly that it was hardly even noticeable.

"I've actually been in contact with Uchiha recently,"he said finally in a horribly matter-of-fact voice, causing Kai's own eyes to narrow. "_What_?"he hissed incredulously, hardly daring to believe his ears.

Tala's glare actually managed to silence him. "Don't be naive, Hiwatari,"the redhead spat irritably, "We don't all have grudges against Uchiha the same as you do. Some of us actually don't mind him,"

The phoenix inhaled deeply before giving him a curt "Continue."

The wolf gave him a dull look before heeding his words and continuing, "He knows all of this already. And there is more to it. He can see the future and this man he met, named Seto Kaiba, can see the present."

"See the present?"Kai raised his eyebrows, "What exactly does that mean?"

Tala suppressed a sigh with difficulty.

"It means he can see what's happening at any given moment that he wants,"he explained without emotion."Well, that's actually remotely interesting,"Kai commented grudgingly, averting Tala's eyes deliberately.

The redhead rolled his eyes emphatically. Then Kai frowned.

"I think I've met this Seto Kaiba, actually,"he mused, sounding more as if he were talking to himself than Tala, eyes cast down and pale lips creased in a thin line.

Tala narrowed his gaze. "And?"he prompted pointedly, crossing his arms over his chest.

His friend sighed, "He's more than just a present-seer. Apparently, he's also a Shielder,"

* * *

"_This is where Fate takes its toll, Truesdale,"_

Shadows exploded into view, swirling all around the previously inert air, before coalescing into the tall, midnight-cloaked form of a man. Zane's liquid green eyes turned to solid acid.

"Bakura,"

The white-haired vampire smiled coldly, flashing the tips of his razor-like fangs.

"So glad you recognize me, vampaneze,"his smooth bloodless lips curved in a slow smirk, "I suppose I should be honoured,"

"What the hell do you want, traitor?"his accompaniment spat ungraciously, his own fangs bared in a venomous snarl.

Bakura's icy smile only grew colder.

"I noticed you didn't tell Kaiba the full story of why you hate me. Why is that?"he questioned, feigning innocence as he crossed his black-clad arms across his chest expectantly.

Zane's eyes narrowed into slits. "What's it to you?"

He received a humourless chuckle by way of a response; "I am merely curious. After all, it's no skin off your back for telling him the true story. Last I checked, it only incriminated myself and oh who else?"Bakura pretended to think for a minute. Then his cold sneer turned positively bloodcurdling. "Oh, I remember. Itachi Uchiha, wasn't it?"

His killer companion shot him a death glare that, had he been anyone else, probably would've frozen him to his spot. As it was, it still sent chills down his spine.

"You know perfectly well why I did not tell Seto Kaiba the truth,"Zane replied coolly, vampaneze form taking over, melting his irises into pools of Arctic fire, filling their entire sockets and losing their pupils, while fangs sharper than knives and tipped with leftover blood jutted out over his bottom lip, gleaming eerily in the dark room.

Then the vampaneze vanished and reappeared behind Bakura, fangs poised inches away from the white-hair's exposed throat.

Siberian breath hissed into his ear as Zane spoke, this time in just barely above a whisper.

"If I were you, I wouldn't get on my bad side, _**proditor**_[2]. You might just find that it'll be the last thing you ever do,"

"And what, pray tell, do you mean by that, Truesdale?"

Bakura could practically feel the cruel smirk playing onto the murderer's lips against his ear before he got a mocking response.

"You've witnessed my savagery-I think you know the answer to that,"he breathed and there was more danger in the softness of his voice than in the most potent of curses.

There was the brief prick of fangs against Bakura's nape before Zane spoke again, "I suggest you leave now. Before you push me too far and I..lose control,"

It took the sensation of something hot running down the side of his neck for the vampire to finally heed his companion's words and disappear into the night.

Zane stepped back, flicking his slightly horned tongue over the tips of his incisors to clean off the blood. The viscous crimson drop seeped down his throat and he licked his lips slowly.

"Next time, I won't hold back-and he will be drained of every. Last. Drop."he vowed to himself, uttering the last three words as if each of them were a complete sentence with a cold, cruel grin.

Then he turned.

And vanished as well.

* * *

My entire world was collapsing in on itself.

Or at least, that's what it's seemed like ever since I found out that I had to work together with Hiwatari to stop Jaleks from destroying the world.

"So now that we've clarified who the three ''gifted ones'' are, what are you intending on doing about it?"I asked my companion swiftly, lifting one of my legs over the other and leaning back in my arm chair.

The brunette sitting across from me rolled his rocket blue eyes.

"I would think that was obvious, Uchiha;I'm going to teach you and Hiwatari to trust each other..whether you like it or not,"Kaiba replied easily, closing his eyes as he spoke without emotion. I sighed.

"Do you really think it's going to be that easy?"

His eyes snapped open and stared at me hard. "Are you willing to make this work?"he demanded of me, stopping just short of pinning me with a glare. "It's not me you have to worry about,"I defended coolly, meeting his stare evenly. The corners of the Shielder's mouth twitched.

"Oh, I'll take care of Hiwatari, but like it or not, you're going to be helping,"he stated firmly, leaving no room for argument.

I shrugged.

"I never said I wouldn't,"I said offhandedly, acting as if I didn't really care one way or the other-but inside, I was seething. This man thought he could just waltz into my life and control me as if I were his puppet or something. I didn't have a problem with working with Hiwatari, but this was going to be a major issue. Who did he think he was?

He referred to himself as my better, but I find that hard to believe since he's sitting here with me now instead of doing something more, I don't know, important to help stop this threat that Jaleks is initiating.

A sigh emitted from those pale lips as the deep baritone said more, "I have a plan. But it's contingent on what Jaleks plans to do next. He wants to wreak havoc on this world for rejecting him all those years ago, that's clear-what isn't is exactly how he intends on doing so,"

"And you have no insight on this sort of thing, even having fought him before?"I challenged slyly, a cynical sneer building slowly on my lips-one I tried vainly to conceal.

This time, he did pin me with a death glare that succeeded in causing a shudder to run down my spine, but I suppressed it and bore the glare without wavering, staring back expectantly.

"That was ages ago, and there is no doubt in my mind that he's learned his lesson and is planning something far different from last time,"Kaiba reasoned dully, the colourless, deadpan tone not quite reaching his blazing eyes.

I didn't hide my scepticism at this statement and cocked a dark eyebrow at him.

"What makes you think that that's true? Don't villains always try the same thing?"I quipped, trying desperately to keep the mocking edge out of my voice.

Seto shot me a withering glance."Don't you know anything, Uchiha?"he sneered bitingly, "Stories are rarely like real life. Villains like Carvarrin Jaleks are nothing like the ones in fairy tales. He would never try the same plan twice, especially if it failed the first time,"

I muffled an offended growl from the back of my throat, and instead questioned smoothly, "I don't suppose you would mind telling me exactly what it is he tried the last time around?" "You suppose correctly,"Kaiba confirmed, his voice taking on a distinctly hard edge.

I nodded mutely, at a loss for what else to say.

Luckily, the dark-haired man filled in the awkward silence for me, deciding to detail his plan now; "We need to get Hiwatari into a situation where he'll have no choice but to listen to us. Not that I would condone it, but it would be convenient if Jaleks were to kill someone he cares about. Then we could pick up the pieces from there,"

My eyes went uncharacteristically wide when he said this. I don't think I was actually meant to hear, but I did.

And I was absolutely appalled.

Looking back, actually, my lips curled at the irony of this. But in that moment, I didn't see the oxymoron.

"You want to sacrifice one of Hiwatari's friends just so we can get to him?"I summarized, stunned, "Not that I have any fondness for them, but that's just wrong,"

"Says the one who is a hired killer-and used to be employed by Jaleks himself,"Kaiba said cuttingly and his eyes were hard they could have cut glass.

I shook my head.

"I never thought you'd stoop so low as to bring that up,"I mumbled quietly, raising my now sharply gleaming obsidian eyes to the taller man from behind my row of coal black eyelashes.

All I got for an answer was a chuckle, equally as cutting as his previous remark.

"We're beside the point, Uchiha. You can't say that that wouldn't satisfy you, after all. I thought you hated Hiwatari?"he quipped snidely, actually endeavouring to keep the ice in his tone to a bare minimum.

I turned away from him, my furious stare falling to blind eyes. "I do,"I admitted tonelessly, fixing my gaze firmly on the ground beneath my boots, "But I still don't think he deserves anything of that sort, nor any other deaths in his life," "Sacrifices are going to be made. You, of all people, should know that," Kaiba stated sharply.

I exhaled haltingly, trying to draw a full breath before saying anything further.

"I know,"

"Then why the reluctance?"Kaiba quipped, actually showing a trace of curiosity in his usually impeccably composed features.

I looked back up, my glare regaining its fury. "'I may still be an assassin, Kaiba, but I don't kill because I enjoy ending the lives of others-I do it because it's the only thing keeping myself and my brother alive right now,"

"Well, then, look at it this way;this will be keeping you and your brother alive as well-and it will be doing more towards that than your assassin's career ever has,"Kaiba commented dismissively, ending the debate.

I had no choice but to surrender.

"Fine,"I gave up, "What do you want me to do about it?I can hardly convince Jaleks to kill one of Hiwatari's friends myself when I'm one of the ones he's after at the moment,"

Kaiba grinned.

"Don't worry about that. You just be ready when it all comes crashing down on Kai Hiwatari's head,"

* * *

Time passes quickly when you're waiting for the world to come to an end at any given time.

This is how I felt after my conversation with Tala about the prophecy that involved myself and Uchiha-like time was going far too quickly. Before I knew it, more than a week had elapsed and I was more apprehensive than ever of what was to come.

But there was a sense that something was wrong. What I didn't know was what.

At that precise moment when I was thinking this, my front door slammed open and the redhead of my thoughts came storming in. There was an uncharacteristically livid look on his pale features that actually made me a little anxious.

"What's wrong, _**volk**_[3]?"I asked him steadily, keeping my face carefully schooled into an expression of no emotion.

Unfortunately, this action had the antagonistic effect of what I wanted it to and only seemed to anger him further, to the point where his lips were trembling with badly suppressed rage.

"Everything,"he stated quietly;then he shook his head and amended his statement, "No, more than everything. Because this doesn't just affect me. If you knew, you'd be even more furious than me,"

At this, I was thoroughly spooked, "And why is that?"

He looked me dead in the eyes before replying, "Ray's been captured."

My eyes widened fearfully.

"_What?_"I hissed emphatically, hoping to any God that would listen that I hadn't heard him right. Sadly, that was not the case. "Ray's gone and we're not going to be able to get him back,"the redhead elaborated grimly, white forehead creased in a frown. "Why not?"I demanded of him, getting to my feet abruptly.

Tala was obviously forcing himself to continue to look at me when he spoke next, "I don't know where he's been taken,"

" _**Derʹmo**_[4],"I swore in Russian, wringing my hands in frustration. Tala went to calm me down, but I shook him off coldly. "What makes you think you come in here, tell me my best friend's been captured and then say that we can't help him because you don't know where he is?"I all but growled, venom practically dripping from every one of my words.

He took a step back from my fuming form and raised his palms in a gesture of surrender. "I'm sorry, Kai, but it's the truth. I don't know any more about this Jaleks character than you do, so I have no idea where he would've taken Ray,"he defended truthfully.

I inhaled deeply, trying to regain some semblance of stability.

Then it happened.

My entire hideout imploded around me and for the longest ten minutes of my life, it felt as though I was slowly being burned to death, piece by piece.

Flames licked at the walls surrounding me and at the floor beneath my feet, charring away everything as far my eyes could see and desecrating the furniture I had so meticulously placed around the room. I saw the fire pour itself into my bedroom and Ray's, no doubt burning everything in there to a crisp as well.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tala staring at this spectacle, looking absolutely stunned, like he couldn't believe his eyes. I wasn't much different.

You know that feeling you get when something perpetually life-shattering is happening around you and all you feel is utter disbelief?Well, I wasn't getting that feeling-the only thing I was feeling was anger at seeing all my possessions and, above all, my _home_ being turned to naught but ashes before my eyes.

There were over a thousand words in my vocabulary, but none of them even came close to describing the fury I felt at watching this, powerless to do anything about it. Devastated would probably be an appropriate one-but an understatement.

Heat enveloped me, but ironically, I began to shiver and clutch at my bare arms, wishing I had the foresight to keep a jacket on at all times, like Tala did. He was perfectly fine in his thick red leather jacket.

And, just as suddenly as it began, the disaster halted. Then someone spoke.

"Destruction is such a beautiful thing. I find myself liking it more and more every time I bring it down on something,"

I turned around and found myself facing who I assumed was this Carvarrin Jaleks that wanted to kill me, Uchiha and that Kaiba character.

The first thing I noticed about him was that he was short.

I don't mean he was a midget, but he was shorter than Kaiba and looked to be only about a head taller than Uchiha, and judging by his face, I'd say he was more than decades Uchiha's senior.

But what my attention was really drawn to was the tan, slumped figure at his side.

Ray.

After only a half day in the tyrant's company, my best friend looked terrible;there were bruises and scars lining his exposed arms. Burn marks accompanied them on both his arms and his neck, bite marks joining them on his neck. Multiple clumps and streaks of blood stuck in his raven hair, which was no longer in its customary thin tendril.

The worst part, though, was his face.

There was a glazed, tortured look in his usually vibrant amber eyes and half of his eyebrows had been ripped off, by the looks of them. His lips were cut and bloody and his tan cheeks were bright with the red bodily substance;teeth were missing from his mouth and parts of his ears had been cut off.

I was appalled.

Involuntarily, tears sprang to my eyes and I wasn't able to stop my voice from fracturing when I spoke. "Ray?"I called to him softly, my throat raw with emotion I couldn't hold back, "Please tell me you're okay,"

Jaleks, holding Ray in practically a chokehold, shook his head ruefully, a mocking grin building on his lipless mouth.

"He can't hear you, Hiwatari,"the tyrant informed me in a painfully matter-of-fact tone, grin turning into a cruel sneer.

I rounded on him instantly. "Why the hell not?"I burst out furiously, not even bothering to reign in my famous temper and putting all I had into one of my trademark death glares. But it had no effect on the recipient and he just continued to sneer.

"Why, because I've deafened him permanently, of course,"he answered cruelly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. I blew up. "You better hope there was no lasting damage done to him, Jaleks, or I swear I'll kill you,"I spat at him viciously, baring my teeth in a snarl.

His sneer turned practically shiver-inducing.

"Oh, you won't have to worry about any lasting damage, trust me,"he said crookedly, "Because he won't be living long enough for any of the damage to last,"He plunged a knife into my best friend's stomach.

And the air was filled with Ray's tortured, reverberating screams.

"No!"I cried out desperately, running towards the neko-jin, intent on doing something, _anything _to save him. But by the time I reached him, it was too late.

He was gone. Dead.

Blood had pooled at his feet, on the charred, blackened ground and it was still seeping from his torn midsection. I mistakenly put my feet there and my blue cargoes were instantly soaked crimson-but I didn't care.

My arms went around the dead Chinese man as I tried vainly to hold back the tears that were welling up in my eyes. And the worst part of it was that Tala was inexplicably gone, so I had no one to keep me from falling apart.

Or so I thought.

"There's nothing left in here, except for the energy you're emitting, Hiwatari,"a now familiar smooth baritone rang out in the all but empty room.

Kaiba came out of the shadows of the blackened hideout, dressed in his usual amber cloak with his sword belt tied tight around his waist.

"What energy?Why am I emitting energy?"I wondered, tightening my arms around my dead friend. I was already pretty sure I knew the answer to my own question, though.

The shielder turned, "I'm leaving this explanation to you, Uchiha,"

I whirled in the direction he was facing and saw him. My worst nemesis. But he was different.

His hair was messy and down, rather than its usual ponytail at the nape of his neck, but it still disappeared into the collar of his black cloak, so I was unable to see if its length were any different. His assassin's ring and sword were gone as well as the customary hairstyle. I simply stared at him until he sighed and then spoke in a dull, flat tone.

"The trails of the past energy and you're emitting them because of your power,"he explained in a bored voice, black eyes betraying not even a hint of the disasters he looked as though he had recently faced.

I arched an eyebrow in pretend bewilderment, "What power?"

I saw Uchiha throw Kaiba a look of muted ferocity, but the brunette ignored it and merely nodded for him to keep going.

He sighed a second time.

"You have the power to look into the past,"

I think he was expecting me to gasp or something akin to that, so I did and mimicked being close to collapsing in shock. "Wh-what?"I decided to stutter simply for dramatic effect, adopting a innocently confused expression-the deception came easily while still being distraught over Ray's murder.

Kaiba came to stand directly in front of me and stared me straight in the eyes.

"You and Uchiha have been enemies for quite some time now, haven't you?"

I stared at him before answering honestly, "Yes."

He nodded, "There's your answer, then. Against all odds of their consciousness, they will come together and defeat the threat,"

"Threat?"Itachi quipped dubiously with a raised coal black eyebrow. I couldn't tell if he was lying or not-he was just too unpredictable for that.

"It's the one whose insignia was on that note I received,"I declared, this time without my facade, saying the words stonily as I continued to cradle Ray's body next to me while it steadily grew colder with death.

Kaiba simply uttered the name so no one else would have to, "Jaleks,"

Uchiha nodded and looked at me. "So, then it looks like, no matter how much we might hate it, we're going to have to work together,"he stated, saying the words we both knew to be true for the first time aloud. I shrugged. "Seems so,"I mumbled uncomfortably, finally deciding to get to my feet.

The past-seer stepped between the two of us and looked from one to the other before he piped up seriously, "So can it work?Can you two put aside your differences and trust each other?"

Me and Uchiha looked at each other sharply, neither of us willing to relent with our stare. "What do you say, _Kai_?"he said, putting a particular emphasis on my name, trying out my first name.

It sounded so strange coming from his mouth since he'd been calling me by my surname ever since we'd first met, so I tried to return the favour; "I can if you can, _Itachi,_"

"We only have until the first star to solve this, gentlemen, so I suggest you get a move on,"Kaiba injected in clipped tones, leaning against the nearest wall and crossing his arms. We both tossed him disapproving glances before returning to our staredown.

Uchiha sighed for the third time since he arrived and held out his hand.

"There's more at stake here than either of our prides, so let's just do this. For the sake of the world and so something like this,"he jerked his chin in the direction of Ray's body pointedly, "won't happen again. You don't have to like me, but you have to trust me and I'll do the same for you. Deal?"

I bit my bottom lip slightly, staring at his outstretched hand critically, then searching for any misgivings in his eyes, but they were as unreadable as ever, so I gave up.

"Deal,"I agreed grudgingly, taking his hand and clasping it very briefly before letting go.

We parted and joined Kaiba, who was now in front of the door. "I suggest you get some clothes, Hiwatari, because you won't be coming back here,"he called to me quietly, throwing the hood of his amber cloak up over his dark hair.

I agreed and went to do just that, but before I left, I heard Uchiha ask him, "So what was that you were saying about us only having until the full star to stop Jaleks from destroying us?"

* * *

Yes, I killed Ray. Sorry to any of you people who liked him in this story. You probably hate me now, but it had to be done. Don't kill me!Yeah, this took even longer than the last one, I think, so don't be expecting another update any time soon because this one killed me. But when the next update does roll around, look out for way more action, the gifted ones' plan to stop Jaleks and some more of Zane and Bakura's history. I'm excited and you should be, too.

Until next time.

[1]"brother" in Russian

[2]"traitor" in Latin

[3]"wolf"in Russian

[4]"shit" in Russian


	5. Chapter 5:The Reality

**Title**:Cataclysm

**Author**:superhackaninja5

**Rating**:T

**Summary**:see chapter one

**Disclaimer:**You all know the drill. Don't own nothing cept the plot, settings and the character backgrounds I made up.

This story is dry. I don't think I'm writing this or Seventh Sacrifice anymore. Not enough inspiration and I'm just not really anime-brained anymore.

* * *

Chapter 5:The Reality

I was pretty sure that I had never slept this badly before.

I had never really been what you'd call a heavy sleeper, not even as a child. Especially not as a child. But I could always, at least, eventually fall asleep if I had tried hard enough.

Not tonight, though.

Nightmares of what had happened to Ray were still haunting me. I could still see the haunted look on his almond-skinned face, see the flash of the knife that Jaleks had slid in between his ribs as he killed him every time I closed my eyes-it had only happened yesterday, after all. I had witnessed all sorts of horrors in my past before now, but none of them had ever hit me as hard as Ray's death had.

After what had seemed like hours of tossing and turning, I finally bolted upright, concluding that I was not going to get to sleep no matter how hard I tried. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and pressed the heel of my palm against my brow.

I knew Ray's death probably wasn't the only reason I couldn't sleep. The fact that I was currently in a house with a stranger and the man I hated most in the world most likely had something to do with it as well.

Yes, let's discuss Uchiha for a moment, shall we?

He and I hadn't exactly settled our differences;I still hated him for what he had done-but we didn't have a choice except to work together now. That is, if we wanted to make it out of this without getting anyone else killed in the process. Although, to be quite honest, he did seem a lot less reluctant to work with me than I was to work with him;his usual icy disdain was nowhere to be seen anymore. Instead, it had been replaced with a more puzzling veneer of staunch indifference, which was even more troubling than his previous demeanour.

I opened my eyes to take a look around at my surroundings. I was in unfamiliar territory here;this was a place I would never be under any other circumstances-and I was still not completely sure that I wanted to be here now.

Exhaling heavily, I stood up and exited the sparse, grey-walled room. If I wasn't going to sleep, I figured I might as well do something productive, like maybe get to know this place a little better. From the looks of things, I was most likely going to be here a while.

Shutting the door behind me, I walked out into the candlelit hallway alone, eyes scanning the walls carefully. Though the house appeared to have been abandoned when we came here, the hallway was lavishly decorated with medieval art and a silver trim. A ruby red carpet lined the floor underneath my boots and, though it was covered in a thin layer of dust, it had no doubt been of very high quality at one time.

I didn't understand this world I was in very much anymore. Things used to be so simple;Uchiha was my enemy and that was all-but now everything had been thrown into question. I didn't know who to trust-or who to want dead.

Lost in my own head, I found myself in the entrance hall when I came back to reality, standing at the foot of the grand staircase. It was a very elaborate-looking space, with a sloped white ceiling and the same dark red carpet covering the marble floor. It made me wonder if maybe someone had lived here once.

I started up the staircase, curious as to what the second floor was like. The staircase itself was incredibly large with drapes hanging off of the railings on either side.

As it turned out, the upper landing was rather similar to the ground floor;it was just as decorative and just as dusty. The only difference as far as I could tell was the addition of a balcony, which was where I caught sight of my former nemesis.

He was standing on the verandah, arms crossed in front of him and eyes closed. That wasn't the strange thing, though;no, the strange thing was, for the first time ever, he wasn't wearing his heavy black cloak-he was clad only in a pair of simple black pants and a loose black t-shirt with fishnetting around the collar.

Without his cloak, he looked...smaller, somehow-less threatening. And I had never noticed before how slim he was-mostly because what he lacked in broadness, he more than made up for in muscle tone.  
It was rather ironic that when it was considerably warm, he didn't take off his cloak and then now, when it was pouring rain, that was when he'd decided to take it off. Granted, there was a roof over his head, but still.

He appeared to just sense my presence because, without turning around or even opening his eyes, he spoke to me. "What do you want, Hiwatari?"he questioned lowly, lips barely moving to form the words.

I bit my lip in embarrassment when I realized that I had been staring. "I was just looking around,"I confessed hesitantly, lifting one of my shoulders in a shrug.

This was incredibly odd;not only being in the same building as him of my own free will, but also treating him as something other than my enemy after everything he had put me through. I had never been unsure of myself before, but in this situation, I had never been more so. It was no wonder I hadn't been able to fall asleep.

The blacknette wasn't immediately forthcoming with a response, though his pale eyelids did slide open to reveal his familiar empty, pupiless obsidian voids. Instead, he chose to stare out into the brewing storm for a moment longer, letting me stew in my discomfort.

Finally, after what was probably the longest minute of my life, he decided to speak again. "It was going to take a lot of motivation to get me to tolerate you, Kai,"he said without emotion. I felt a chill run down my spine;I still wasn't used to hearing him use my first name. "But the truth is, I would do anything to keep my brother safe-and it just so happens that if we don't defeat Jaleks, Sasuke will be the one to pay the price. So you help me protect him and I will help you get revenge for what happened to your friend."

I blinked;I got the odd feeling that he had read my mind. "How did you know that I was thinking about getting revenge?"I voiced my thoughts, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

Itachi still wouldn't even do me the courtesy of meeting my gaze, but he replied in an almost frighteningly matter-of-fact tone. "There aren't very many people who I care about in this world;so if one of the few I do care about were to be murdered, I would want whoever killed them to pay."

A frown creased my forehead;that was exactly how I felt. Ray and Tala were pretty much the only ones who meant something to me in the world;seeing Ray get murdered by Jaleks had ignited in me a desire for retribution so potent, I didn't think simply killing him would assuage it. I wanted to rip that bastard to pieces, just like he had done to my friend-and with Uchiha's help, I actually had a chance at achieving that goal.

Well, we still weren't friends, but I got the feeling that Uchiha and I had at least reached a sort of understanding. That would have to be enough for now.

* * *

_The fire raged as far as the eye could see, engulfing everything in its path. Human, object, animal-it didn't matter;the flames were indiscriminate-they consumed it all._

_He stood at the edge of the mountain, watching the village below as it burned to the ground. Tears cascaded down his light-skinned cheeks, but no sound left his mouth._

_This had all been because of him. His friends, his family and his neighbours had all been murdered because the Dark Man had been searching for _him_. He'd wanted Seto's power;his parents had decided that he wasn't going to get it._

_He wrinkled his nose at the acrid stench of charcoal and burning flesh that permeated the air and hastily swiped at the moisture on his face. He couldn't afford to show weakness;he had to get away and retain his strength. He was the last of the Shielders;it was up to him to continue their mission._

_Exhaling softly,Seto dried his eyes and pulled up the hood of the slightly overlarge cloak that his father had given him. He would not fail at his mission;he would find a way to defeat Carvarrin Jaleks-and he wouldn't rest until the Dark Man had paid for murdering his family._

_With that thought in his mind, he mounted his horse and rode off into the night. He had work to do._

PRESENT DAY

Seto's amber orbs snapped open, the shadows of the flames from his dream dancing behind the irises. He let out a sigh, carding his fingers though his tousled bronze hair. The slaughter of the people he'd once thought were his family was never going to leave his mind-nor was the reminder that they were never really his family. He didn't have a family-he was an amalgamation of Jaleks's dark power in humanoid form, just like Hiwatari and Uchiha.

He forced his body into a sitting position, casting out his senses to check on the other inhabitants of the mansion. He caught snippets of the two other creations' conversation and had to suppress a smile-he definitely wouldn't want to be the one going up against those two at full power. Maybe the prophecy _had _had a good reason for choosing them.

The former hero and assassin would be quite the formidable opponents on their own, but combine them and you had a force to be a reckoned with. And that was something he could get on board with.

But there was still one thing that troubled him. At the full star, their powers would be drained and their enemy's would be at their strongest;they had to take care of Jaleks before then-which meant they only had a week and a half to master their gifts.

It was times like these that he really wished Truesdale was someone he could go to for help and not just another unaffiliated variable in his messed-up life.

He got out of his bed and pulled his shirt back on. It was nearing morning and, as long as all of them were awake, they might as well get some work done. With luck, there wouldn't be any interruptions from his sometimes-roommate or the other vampire who seemed to have recently taken to just popping up at random intervals.

Seto's smile turned rueful. When had he ever been lucky?

* * *

"So you are one of the last of the vampaneze."

Zane didn't react to the sound of that deep, rumbling baritone. He recognized it, of course;but he didn't feel enough to feel shock.

The owner of the voice suddenly appeared in front of him, breath hitting his face and prompting the vampaneze to open his eyes. Carvarrin Jaleks stood in front of him, clad in thick black robes and face half-shielded by a faded brown cowl.

When Zane still didn't speak, not even to comment on his sudden presence, the Dark Man continued, if only to fill the silence. "You don't have a purpose in this part of the world anymore. So what are you doing getting involved in the life of the Shielder?"

That question got the taller to arch one of his cobalt eyebrows-but still no words left his lips . He was a hard one to rattle.

Jaleks caught the brief flicker in his onyx orbs, though, and it caused a satisfied grin to spread over his thin lips.

"You weren't aware of your roommate's powers,"he surmised almost gloatingly, eyes gleaming with sadistic amusement. He clicked his tongue with mock disapproval, "He never told you. How rude-especially after you revealed your history with the Necros vampire,"

Zane merely stared at him, his blank expression not quite reaching his blazing eyes.

The other's composure wavered at his companion's lack of emotion. He had to remind himself that he was dealing with one of the most dangerous creatures in the world, not just a mortal or one of his creations;Truesdale was one of the few creatures who could probably match his power, so he had to tread carefully-even if the vampaneze couldn't, strictly speaking, kill him.

"Oh, that's right, you didn't tell him everything, did you?"he corrected himself, crossing his arms over his chest. He resisted letting out a growl of frustration when the vampire still didn't react. "Why was that, exactly?"

Finally, the bluenette responded, but it was without much concern. "If you're trying to get a rise out of me, it isn't going to work,"Zane stated flatly, barely moving his bloodless lips. He paused a moment before adding, "If you want something, I suggest you tell me what it is and then leave. Just because I'm immortal doesn't mean that I have time to waste with your games,"

Carvarrin spread his palms mockingly in a gesture of surrender. "Very well,"he conceded, "I want to offer you a deal."

The vampire gave no indication whether he was willing to hear it or not, but he ploughed on, regardless. "Come back and work for me, just like you did during the vampire wars,"he requested with fake politeness, making it sound as though he were actually giving the bluenette a choice, "The rest of your secret will never get out and you won't have all three of the Gifted Ones gunning for you,"

The immortal gave a soft, humourless chuckle. "Are you really so desperate that you'd result to threatening me in order to gain my assistance?"Zane shook his head disparagingly, taking a deliberate step forward. He lowered his head so his lips were next to Jaleks' ear. "My secrets are mine to decide whether I want them told or not. Not even your creations are strong enough to end someone like me, so why would I fear them finding out?"

He pulled back enough so his frigid and now glowing eyes could bore holes into the shorter's grey ones. "Go ahead and tell them, if you want,"he said dismissively, "I owe none of them anything, least of all Itachi Uchiha. What I did to him was a small injustice compared to what the Necros vampire cost me. When he abandoned his comrades, he made it their life's mission to blame me for everything, just because I was the last one to speak with him before he left. If Uchiha wants to enact his revenge, he can go ahead and try,"

Jaleks rocked back on his heels, shaken by the complete and utter nonchalance of the vampire's answer. "Is that your final answer?"he retorted, trying to sound as though the taller hadn't just ruined his plan;needless to say, he failed miserably.

The corners of the immortal's mouth twitched slightly. "A cliche such as you should know that you won't win. Why would I ever help someone who is doomed to fail?"he reasoned dully, expression careless.

Jaleks seethed silently. "When I achieve my victory, you'll regret not taking my deal when you had the chance, vampaneze,"he vowed angrily, clenching his fists.

"We'll see,"Zane shot back calmly, drawing the hood of his navy cloak back over his head before turning on his heel to live. "You know better than I what the creations are capable of;if you think they'll be the ones to fail, who am I to question to you?"

Those were the last words the vampire spoke before he vanished silently, as if he had never been there. Jaleks stood in front of his vacant position, twisting around to find himself on the edge of a cliff.

He gritted his teeth, attempting to contain his rage. Things would have been so much easier if he had gotten the vampire on his side. Now, he was going to have to do things the messy way-and no one wanted that. Not even him.

He sighed in resignation. Oh well. It was too late to turn back now. He'd started this;now he had no choice but to finish it.

The creations were in for one hell of a ride, thanks to Truesdale.

Eyes gleaming in excitement, the Dark One cast a malevolent look over the precipice he was standing on to the water below. "When this world becomes mine, it will be on your head, and yours alone, vampaneze,"he whispered maliciously, before disappearing as well in a flurry of acrid grey smoke.

* * *

The three creations gathered in the foyer of the mansion. None of them had slept, but it was nearing morning anyway so it was time to get something done. There were still matters that needed to be cleared up before they could really start to wade into this war.

Seto was the one to start the conversation, which made sense since he knew the most out of the three of them. He was a veteran of fighting people like Carvarrin Jaleks;he had the most information to offer.

"We only have a little over a week before Jaleks reaches full power and we lose our advantage,"he began bluntly without preamble. A serious expression came over his light-skinned, slightly aristocratic features. "I told you this would have to end before the full star appears; this is why-and, trust me, you don't want to fight the Dark Man without your Gifts,"

"And how exactly do you know so much about our enemy?I know you're another one of the creations, but still,"Kai interjected suspiciously, amethyst eyes narrowing at the taller male. His undeniably short temper was on edge;he didn't like secrets, even though he kept quite a few himself.

The Shielder inhaled deeply before explaining in a hesitant tone. "Jaleks and I have a very complicated past. I was the one to get him exiled from the world in the first place. He created the two of you to get back at me,"he declared truthfully, shrugging his broad shoulders.

Itachi showed no outward indication that he was actually even listening;he had heard all this before, after all. Kai, on the other hand, appeared scandalized.

"And you never thought to tell us this sooner?"he shot at the brunette accusingly. "Why are we the ones paying the price for your actions?We could just put an end to all of this by giving him you,"

"It doesn't work that way, Hiwatari,"the brunette stated calmly, unfazed by the sudden outburst. "Jaleks murdered my entire family because I, a seven-year-old boy, had the gall to defy him. He started this war because I refused to let him control me and, unless you want to become his slave, he will keep hunting you until you submit-or you die,"

"What about me?"the blacknette cut in unexpectedly, eyes sliding open to stare, unblinking, at the Shielder. "I was an assassin of his for nearly half my life. He shouldn't be coming after me."

The brown-haired man shrugged a second time. "He's probably figured out that you're with us now and that he can't control you anymore,"he suggested offhandedly, "That, more than anything, would make him vengeful. He hates it when a servant of his decides to rebel,"

* * *

(Itachi's POV)  
I had seen people get tortured in my visions before. I had seen them get virtually torn apart-I had even seen them die. But it had never been someone I knew before.

So when that familiar blinding flash of silver obscured my vision for a split second and I found myself looking into the bloodless ivory face of my younger brother, naturally I was stunned. Especially since he was covered in blood.

I felt my mouth go dry and found myself praying that this wasn't a death vision, because if it was, that would mean that everything I had done to protect Sasuke up until now would have been for nothing. Moreover, since he didn't look much older than he did now, obviously, this was going to happen soon.

Unfortunately, I had no such luck.

My brother was, from the looks of things, chained to a wooden chair in the centre of what looked oddly like a medieval dungeon. Streaks of dark red ran across the stone walls like errant paint and steel and metal traps hung overhead, adding to the dungeon image.

Mostly, though, it just looked like a torture chamber.

The sound of a door hitting the wall echoed off of the stone walls and from behind Sasuke, a familiar short, but hulking figure sauntered into the room, carrying a jagged razor blade and my assassin's ring. It was, without a doubt, my former boss-and my apparent creator.

"I warned your brother a long time ago what the consequences of betraying me would be,"he spoke in a low growl, more to himself than to anyone else, "And yet, he still chose to do so,"

Jaleks heaved a sigh of feigned regret. "Oh well,"he said, fingering the knife in his gloved hand almost lovingly, "I guess you'll just have to be the one to pay the price,"

Imagine the greatest horror you have ever seen-then multiply it by about a thousand. That was what seeing my brother get tortured by someone who had promised to protect him was.

I should have felt betrayal, anger, hatred, disgust-but all I really felt was cold. I was torn out of the vision more violently than any time before just as Sasuke was clearly about to die. It had been a death vision, after all.

I returned to reality with a heavy breath, flattening a palm against the wall in order to steady myself. All the usual rules that usually governed my visions just didn't seem to apply anymore.

Usually, I didn't see things so clearly. And they never involved people who were close to me before, either-never.  
Then again, none of the rules that used to apply to my life seemed to be intact ever since this little war had begun. Jaleks was doing more than trying to bring us back underneath his thumb;he was making it so that we would become mindless and broken. He was trying to take everyone away from us so we would have no one left but him-so we would have no choice but to turn to him.

I wasn't going to let that happen. I had made the choice to betray him, to not allow myself to be controlled by him anymore because I didn't want to rely on anyone but myself. I had learned long ago that I was the only one I could trust;temporarily, I was going to have to trust in Hiwatari as well. But I wasn't going to let that be detrimental to my brother's survival.

After slaughtering my parents and the rest of my family, Jaleks wasn't going to be allowed to kill another Uchiha. That was why I had agreed to work with the other two gifted ones-nothing more.

* * *

"_As the Dark Man returns, _

_He will create his own end._

_Two souls in which the past and future collide_

_Will be the ones to end his present._

_Before the evening star is full,_

_The future will be theirs."_

* * *

I think I'm done with this story. Anime stories are just not working anymore. Although, if anyone WANTS me to keep writing, R&R then maybe I'll be more motivated.


End file.
